What is your philosophy of education? This was the question that the professor asked us in my second year of my teacher education undergraduate program. Philosophy of education? I had no idea. In fact it wasn’t until very recently that my philosophy was anything but an inchoate slush of ideas, inclinations, and questions. Though I know that my philosophy will grow and change, almost 20 years after that question was asked, I think I have an answer. Okay, I know. I’m a little on the slow side.

I have taught grades 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and remedial classes in high school. I have worked as a mentor, a cooperating teacher, a professional development coordinator, a reading specialist, and a librarian. I have loved students in tiny Eskimo villages on the Bering Sea Coast, in inner-city Las Vegas, and in rural Wisconsin. I have sat on every possible type of committee and attended more meetings than anyone should ever have to attend. I earned National Board Certification, published in journals, and presented at conferences. Most importantly each year I have loved my profession more deeply and each year has been seminal in my growth as an educator and as an educational philosopher.

Today my philosophy boils down to a list of five things I know to be true about teaching and learning. In my experience these are among the most important truths for successful educators. If I had to distill them into a few sentences it would read something like this:  Students will learn if they work, they will only learn if they work, and they want to work.  A teacher’s job is to lend students their expertise and allow them to get busy.

Without further delay, I am happy to share my list of the 5 things I finally understand about teaching and learning. For each I will give a brief overview and link to resources when possible. All of the resources are quick and easy-to-read. Teachers are busy. I respect this.

1. The brain can be exercised and grown! EVERY single student can grow, learn, and achieve at high levels.

All children want to learn and all crave challenge. This comes from the research of the brilliant psychologist Carol Dweck. Dweck teaches us that our brains are malleable and that humans can actually get smarter. She also reminds us that failure is a part of learning and should be celebrated as part of the process.

• Carol Dweck’s Mindset site
• Carol Dweck Video on Mindset (MUST watch!)
• In Praise of Failure
• You Can Grow Your Brain
• The Perils and Promise of Praise

2. Motivation is key, but the way we think of motivation must change.

Motivation comes from success. Motivation comes from feeling good about your work. Motivation comes from “seeing” growth with hard data. Motivation is not something we give to students is something we teach to students. Daniel Pink and John Hattie have done outstanding work in this area.

• Daniel Pink’s Site
• RSA Animate Video on Drive by Daniel Pink (MUST watch video!!!)
• Profession John Hattie’s Site
• Slide Share Presentation on Visible Learning

3. Classroom management is absolutely foundational to teaching and learning.

Excellent teachers know how to run a classroom, how to manage children, how to differentiate instructional experiences, and how to proactively ward off poor choices. Differentiated instruction is a big part of classroom management.

• Cooperative Discipline by Linda Albert, the best book ever about classroom management.
• Carol Tomlinson’s Site Tomlinson is a professional leader in differentiated instruction:

4. The answers are out there.

There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Years and years of research by our professional leaders have given us some solid answers about what works. We must let go of our egos and allow ourselves to be open to the possibility that someone else might have better answers. Teachers are trained in colleges that mostly subscribe to a problem-solving approach. The thing is, you’re not in college anymore, you’re in a profession and professions are defined by shared knowledge and resources. Thinking as a professional means using the body of knowledge that is out there. Of course, each of us has something to add to the body of knowledge but we don’t have to and shouldn’t treat all of education as a do-it-yourself endeavor.

• Common Core Standards
• What Works Clearinghouse
• Florida Center for Reading Research
• Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analysis Relating to Achievement by John Hattie
• Robert Marzano’s Site (Marzano has been synthesizing research about what works in education for over a decade.)

5. The best teachers are coaches not facilitators or bosses.

Okay, despite what I said in number 4, this comes mostly from my own head but also seems to be emerging and converging from a variety of sources as we move from the teacher as facilitator model. But, if you’ve ever watched a coach work with her/his team. You know I’m right. Coaching can be defined as the art and science of helping someone achieve their goals through explicit teaching, modeling, hand-on guided practice, and lots of independent practice. That just oozes good teaching.

• Effective Coaching Site: 
• Student as Worker, Teacher as Coach, Coalition of Essential Schools: 

That’s it. A full 20 years after I was asked about my philosophy of education I finally know the answer. Too bad the brilliant old professor who asked this of my cohort of novice educators isn’t around to hear it. His only possible response would have been, “Duh. What took you so long?”

Before I close this essay I’ve got to talk about Finland. Finland public education has gotten a lot of press recently for the amazing international test scores they’ve been posting. Last week the Finns shared what they consider the reasons for their great success. In a nutshell they cited the following as foundational: universal social services (health care, extended maternity/paternity leave, free quality education), allowing students to grow in developmentally appropriate ways (kids learn when they’re ready not when a grade or age says they should be ready), and treating teachers as professionals (paying them well, respecting them, and offering them generous planning time.)

These are not things America is yet prepared to consider, much less do. While the philosophy I’ve outlined above still holds true, I believe that no systemic change can happen for our public schools until we start taking lessons from Finland.

That may sound negative, but it’s not! Think about understanding number 1 and 5. Idea number 1: Americans can grow their brains!  We will come to realize that fair is fair and equal is equal and we must do right by our most precious American resource, our students. Idea number 5: The answers are out there all we have to do is implement them! Finland found some answers and they’re willing to share.

Now, the question is, what is your philosophy of education?

For more information about the Finnish school system, link to the articles below.

• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/24/finland-schools-success-equality-collaboration_n_1219780.html
• http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Why-Are-Finlands-Schools-Successful.html

Rita Platt is a Nationally Board Certified teacher. Her experience includes teaching learners of all levels from kindergarten to graduate students. She currently is a Library Media Specialist for the St. Croix Falls SD in Wisconsin, teaches graduate courses for the Professional Development Institute, and consults with local school districts. 

Related posts:

1. Motivation and learning: practical teaching tips for block schedules, brain-based learning, multiple intelligences, improved student motivation, increased achievement.
2. Best practice: new standards for teaching and learning in America’s schools.
3. Inspiring active learning: a handbook for teachers. Harmin, M.

What can I possibly say to make this class understand?  What can I show them?  What can we do so that they “get it?”

We spend a lot of time asking these kinds of questions–searching for that breakthrough moment, the key that will open (for the class) the door to understanding.

Of course, it almost never works that way.

Lessons, guided practice, presentations, project based learning activities– all these succeed (or not) one student at a time.  We plant the the seeds, and slowly, they take root and grow–one at a time.

Students demonstrate growth one at a time.  One at a time, seals are broken and understanding seeps in. Doors open and light bulbs turn on, sure, but rarely all at once–usually (often painfully) one. . . . at . . . a . . . time.

True, we are moving mountains.  But if you’re showing up each day expecting the earth to shift under your feet–it’s going to be a long year.  Yes, there are times to focus on the mountain, but the real progress is being made with the stones at your feet–one at a time.

One student at a time doesn’t grab the headlines.  But it’s the way this works.  Success and failure.  Excellence and mediocrite.  We are winning or we are losing.  And it’s all happening one student at a time.

Related posts:

1. How a Master’s Degree Changed My Instruction
2. Motivation and learning: practical teaching tips for block schedules, brain-based learning, multiple intelligences, improved student motivation, increased achievement.
3. Listen up! Boys and girls hear, read, learn differently

Good writing is good thinking.

Well written is well thought out–which is to say that it’s well planned, well organized, speaks to an audience, has a clear and unique voice and just the right words strung together in just the right way to have just the desired effect.

One of the challenges in teaching writing is helping students to internalize what all that actually looks like.  Change one variable–your audience, your purpose, the topic, even the media–and your target shifts.  Writing is a complex task requiring the management of multiple variables, strategies, and processes.

A blank page means anything is possible.  As writing teachers, we need to narrow that down a bit–quite a bit.

Teaching Writing on the Ground

The bottom line, of course, is that we want our students to become better writers.  As we get closer to the actual meat and potatoes of the process (instruction and assessment), the choices we need to make, though many, become clearer:

• What type of writing are we going to focus on (this time)?
• What media will we be using?
• Who is our intended audience?
• What is the prompt?
• Is this something that involves research?
• What are the elements we want to see in the piece?
• How often will students “produce.”
• How will I provide timely and meaningful feedback?

These are just a sampling of the “instructional design” choices a teacher has to make.  And they’re vitally important, because you always want to get the most bang for your buck.  You always want to design the most effective instructional plan.  And then, when it’s all said and done, somehow, you always want to cement new learning with some type of reinforcement–so that it sticks.

That’s what I want to show you today: a way to pour cement so that we might firm up the foundation of new learning you’ve established in your instruction.

Relevance: The Rubber on the Road

At this stage in my development, I’d have to argue that good writing instruction includes what I’ll call a range of relevance.  What I mean is, from a student’s perspective, some assignments (read practice) are more real and some less real.  In other words, we aren’t publishing everything.  We aren’t actually sending every letter, or submitting every opinion piece to our local paper–nor do we want too.

To write and share our ideas with a real audience, for a real purpose, is what we’re working toward. It’s the game day for which we’ve been preparing.

So, what that means is: We Need Game Days!

And I would argue that, once we’ve reached a certain level of writing–we need them as often as we can get them.  There is a reason writing is such a valuable skill.  And it’s not to impress a teacher.

So how do we do that?  How do we consistently create unique, meaningful, relevant writing opportunities for individual students–without completely losing our minds?  Because, let’s be honest–this can be a lot of work.

I would argue. . . let them argue.  I’ve written about this before.

Most often, the most relevant writing tasks are not graded assignments, but opportunities that spontaneously present themselves–you just need to be able to recognize them.  How?  Here’s a tip: They almost always center around something a student wants (or does not want).

Like:

• A detention
• A field trip
• A grade
• A due date (for an assignment)
• An assignment
• A point or points on a particular test, quiz, project, or assignment
• The ability to choose (a partner, an assignment, a due date, some element of a project)
• The right/privilege to eat or drink or chew gum in class
• The right/privilege to listen to music
• To go outside
• The list goes on and on!

The key here is that students MUST have the ability to actually create change with their writing. I strongly caution teachers against merely pretending that students have some control.  This is not a semi-relevant prompt in which only the problem is real.  

Do that–only go half way–and we’re shooting ourselves in the foot.  Part of the opportunity here is to show students the very real power of quality writing.  And therein lies the second key. The student must produce quality writing in whatever form and at whatever level of expectation you’ve already established.

As writing teachers, we know we have a problem when it comes to skill transfer.  Students will write well in a Language Arts, English, or Writing class–but ask them to produce a quality lab summary for Science and it all falls apart.

The piece itself–or I should say, the reason for the piece–may have nothing to do with your class.  In short, we are demanding transfer of skills.  But, again, in order to pull this off, quality must be king.

I’ll close here with an example.

At the beginning of the year, we supply each of our Middle School students with a planner. Recently, a girl in my class came to me with a request.  She’d lost her planner, and she knew I had a spare.

Initially, her approach was to make a verbal plea.  Bingo. This was my chance to create an opportunity for her to reinforce what she’d already learned about persuasive writing.

I told her that I would consider giving her my extra planner if she was able to produce a persuasive essay convincing me to to do so.

Below, is her actual handwritten essay (and below that, because it might be hard to read, I’ve supplied a typed version).

Please keep in mind that I offer this up, not so much as an example of quality (there’s plenty of room for improvement here as you will see), but as just one example of an almost limitless number of simple, yet very relevant opportunities to reinforce the elements of quality writing that you’ve established in your instruction.

I think it’s a great supplement to an already rigorous instructional plan.  And on top of that, it’s always fun to read what students will create when it really counts.

 I pledge, yup that’s right, pledge to be a more organized student.  For years I have been a disorganized student and the messiness has to stop.  I can’t stress this enough.  I can’t be a well organized student without a well organized assignment notebook.  And that is why I strongly believe that I should have the nice new neat assignment notebook kept in your planning page box.

Let’s think about this.  As a teacher, you encourage kids to improve in there weak spots, like reading and writing , and you try to help them in whatever way you can.  So if you think about it, you would be helping me in my weak spot by letting me start over in a nice new assignment notebook.  You know, you would really be helping me succeed.

In my own defense, I have to say that you’re not actually using the assignment notebook.  You did say so yourself.  So by giving me the assignment notebook, you would be saving paper and giving it to a good cause.  ME!  You could be a really eco friendly man.

And last but not least, I am going to say that this is no joke.  I’m not going to rip it or write dumb stuff on it, like my last one.  I promise.  And trust me, Mr. Wondra, I never break my promises.  I also promise not to lose it or let anyone draw on it.  I will guard it with my life.

Mr. Wondra, giving me that assignment notebook would give me a chance to be more organized, which not only is extra stress off my back, but also it will help with my grades and so much more.  You will see improvement in my organization right before your eyes if you just let me have your assignment notebook.

Related posts:

1. Mining the internet: a space for “writing without writing.”
2. Research on writing conventions: U R what U write.
3. Using toilet humor to teach writing

This article explained how the adolescent brain is still growing and that it’s part of how their brain learns to test the limits of the environment.  It goes on to detail how best to work with adolescents, with ideas such as continually teaching social and behavioral skills throughout the school year, and keeping the expectations clear.

Graham, K, & Prigmore, E (2009). Order in the classroom. Leadership, 38(5), 32-33.

Related posts:

1. Literature circles: voice and choice in the student-centered classroom. Daniels, H.
2. Setting limits in the classroom.
3. Active learning: creating excitement in the classroom. Bonwell, C.C. & Eison, J.A.

Children are researchers.  They will constantly question who’s in charge and what types of behaviors they can get away with.  Teachers need to set limits in the classroom to avoid disruptive behaviors to even take place.  This article mentions the six properties of effective consequences as well as appropriate and inappropriate ways of handling a variety of situations that students may test against their teachers.

Mackenzie, R. (1997).  Setting limits in the classroom.  American Educator.  32-43.

Related posts:

1. Order in the classroom.
2. Classroom strategies for interactive learning. Buehl, D.
3. Literature circles: voice and choice in the student-centered classroom. Daniels, H.

There are six benefits as to why cooperative learning can be an effective teaching strategy:

• Students who are able to take responsibility for their own learning through cooperative learning gain positive attitudes towards school,
• have higher self esteem, and
• build race relations among a mixed variety of diversity.
• These together gain greater student achievement.
• Cooperative learning is also an inexpensive and
• interactive way of teaching away from the textbook.

Hendrix, J. (1996).  Cooperative learning: building a democratic community.  Wilson
Education Abstracts. 69(6).  333-336.

Related posts:

1. The structural approach to cooperative learning
2. Building fires: raising achievement through class discussion. Kahn, E.
3. The Case for Collaborative Learning.

The chapter is a fabulously detailed and thoughtful discussion of six methods to create a student-centered classroom:

• integrative units,
• small-group activities,
• representing-to-learn,
• classroom workshop,
• authentic experiences and
• reflective assessment.

Each approach is thoroughly discussed, and there are suggested further readings for each.  Unlike many of the other authors, Zemelman does acknowledge that we still need whole-class instruction at times.  He offers methods for improving teacher-directed lessons: reading aloud,  mini-lessons, and demonstrations.

Zemelman, S., et.al. (1998).  Classroom structures for best practice.  Best practice: new standards for teaching and learning in America’s schools. Retrieved June 16, 2008 from ProQuest database.

Related posts:

1. Perspective-taking as transformative practice in teaching multicultural literature to white students. Haertling Thein, A., Beach, R., & Parks, D.
2. Motivation and learning: practical teaching tips for block schedules, brain-based learning, multiple intelligences, improved student motivation, increased achievement.
3. Inspiring active learning: a handbook for teachers. Harmin, M.

The article begins with a comparison and contrast of two classrooms, each discussing the character of Queen Gertrude in Hamlet.  The two classrooms exhibit different “interpretive norms–patterns of interaction that occur when students and teachers discuss texts”.  The author references Townsend and Pace’s article and their questions for interpretive norms:

Whose interpretations matter most – teacher’s or students’?

Whose questions matter most?

Should textual events and characters be considered ‘real’?

How do students interpretations get validated?

What are students’ roles in a discussion – just listen?  Think?  Offer opinions?

Respond to one another’s questions?

What are teachers’ roles – partner in dialogue?  Interrogater?  Validator?

VanDeWeghe states that classroom one, a community college writing-about-literature course, is monologic.  The teacher takes center stage, controls the discussion, and interprets the literature.  He does not show interest in what the students are thinking.

Classroom two, an eleventh-grade college prep literature class, is diologic.  Participants must think, teachers value students’ ideas, and characters are viewed as real and complicated.  The seats are arranged in a semicircle, the teacher is one source of knowledge, and the discussion is real.

The author provides a practical section on implications for teachers:

• Change the physical arrangement of the room, using circles, semicircles, and paired or small-group discussion configurations.Frame discussion topics ‘in ways that invite multiple perspectives – in ways that make issues problematic.’
• Have students establish norms for conducting discussions.
• Implement practice in ‘considering alternative viewpoints’ through such means as writing before and after discussion or using dialogue journals for shared written conversation.
• Allow time before class for students to generate discussion questions and time at the end to write down continuing puzzlements that could be used for later discussions.
• Pay attention to classroom discourse, especially to the ways we talk about our interpretations as well as our students (e.g. expressing uncertainty, valuing conundrums, praising intellectual risk taking).
• Model the habits of mind we wish to inculcate in students – for example, tentative exploration of an idea, perseverance in the face of self-doubt, and willingness to listen to other points of view that may challenge our own”.

The author concludes,

“literary discussions may be about more than how to interpret literature.  They may also be about how to talk about life – in all its mystery and messiness.  Some would call this lifelong learning”.

This uplifting and inspiring article leaves me wondering which classroom is most similar to mine.

VanDeWeghe, R. (May 2006).  Interpretive norms in literature discussions.  English Journal.  95, 84-87.  Retrieved July 6, 2008 from ProQuest database.

Related posts:

1. Strategies for initiating authentic discussion. Johannessen, L.
2. Building fires: raising achievement through class discussion. Kahn, E.
3. Perspective-taking as transformative practice in teaching multicultural literature to white students. Haertling Thein, A., Beach, R., & Parks, D.

Internal control psychology’s choice theory is the topic of this book.  The author has been an educator for over 30 years, and he began practicing this theory over 20 years ago.

Glasser developed the theory as a

“biological theory that suggests we are born with specific needs that we are genetically instructed to satisfy” (8).

Our four basic psychological needs are:

• belonging or connecting,
• power or competence,
• freedom and
• fun.

We all create our idealized internal or “quality world” based on having our safety and/or psychological needs met.

Sullo states,

“What we put in our internal world is what we are willing to work for.  If we hope to inspire more students to do high-quality work, we need to create learning environments that result in more students putting school, learning, and working hard into their internal world.  This occurs when students discover that learning helps them connect, be competent, have choices, and be free, all in an environment that promotes safety and survival” (10).

The author devotes one chapter to the research and results that prove internal control psychology works.  The remainder of the book is comprised of case studies, commentaries, and implications for educators.  The case studies are from the perspectives of students, teachers (K-12), counselors and administrators.

Sullo, B. (2007) Activating the desire to learn.  Alexandria, Virginia: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Related posts:

1. Understanding internal motivation. Sullo, B.
2. Inspiring through collaboration. Sullo, B
3. Where’s the evidence? Sullo, B.

The author has compiled and named a myriad of techniques used by K-12 teachers and college professors.  One recurring theme throughout the book is the importance of pacing.

According to this author, the teacher must keep the classroom pace highly involved and fast-paced because of the shrinking attention span of students.  The book is divided into five sections (instructing, raising student motivation, organizing the classroom, handling homework, testing and grading, and producing meaningful learning), and the guiding principle the author says is found in every fully inspirational classroom is DESCA (dignity, energy, self-management, community and awareness).  Filled with practical methods and specific examples, this book is a solid resource for teachers.

Harmin, M.  (1994).  Inspiring active learning: a handbook for teachers.  Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Related posts:

1. Active learning: creating excitement in the classroom. Bonwell, C.C. & Eison, J.A.
2. Motivation and learning: practical teaching tips for block schedules, brain-based learning, multiple intelligences, improved student motivation, increased achievement.
3. Classroom strategies for interactive learning. Buehl, D.